Draft appliance.



lPatented Apr. 16, 1918.-

-IL m M W. ATKINS.

DRAFT APPLIANCE- APPucATloN FILED Aue.ao. |915.

WILLIAM" ATKINS, oF AuBuRN-j" /Y'oiftiri f DRAFT Arrn'ranon:

pasaras.'

Specification 'of Lettere Patent.

Application' fue'a August so, '1915. serial N: 47,997:

Beitlknown that l, WILLIAM VA'rKINs, a citizen ofthe United VStateszofAmerica, and resident of Auburn, inthe county.l of

Cayuga, in the State of New York, havey invented new land usefulImprovements in Draft Appliances, of'which the following, takeny Virrconnection with the accompanying drawings, is afull, clear, andeXactf description.

This invention'relates to certain improvements" in draft appliancesadapted to be used more particularly in` connection with motor tractorsfor operating gang .plows and other farm implements, but it is evidentthat the samel device mayV bey used inthe connection between any powerand load drawn therbyi Y The main'obj'ect isv to provide simple means'for automatically releasing the load from the traction power in casesuch load should exceed a predetermined degree. For example, in"plowingwith single or gang plows by means of a traction engine, it frequentlyhappens that the point of a plow Willsuddenly encounter the root of atree, large/stoneyor other obstacle which may lie in its pathand ,unlesssomeprovision is made for disconnectingl the plow from the tractionengine, it will result breakagel of either the plow'p'oints or some partofthe draftdevice, and the purpose of my invention'i's to overcome sucha contingency.

Othery objects and uses relating to spe-` ciiic parts `of the devicewill be broughtout in the following description;A

Figure'l is atop plan 0f ay draft device embodying my automaticuncoupler.

`Fig. 2 is 'a side elevation ofthe same device.

y F is'an enlarged horizontal sectional view taken on line 3 3, 'Figk 2.

Fig. e is an enlarged longitudinal sectional View taken on line life,Fig. 1.

'Asillustratech the devicecomprises coupling sections -1-' and. -2constituting a draft device and adapted to be connected, respectively,toa load, as" gang plowsl-- and'lsuitahle draft power as' a ,motortra'cwtorv i said sections beingnormally held in operative relation by alo'cl'r'ingv Vmember -an'd'a suitable'keeper arranged in 5 suoli11naiirifer4 Y that when the; tiens aresubj e'cted to an excessivepredeterminedv strain, tending? to' pull=` them apart, the lockingmember will' be .automatically vtripped fromiits lockingwposition byone' of the draft sections. 1

The draft section 1e-f may be'dtermed a-diaw head consisting-,in thisinstance,A of av rectangular frame of suitable material havingrearwardly projecting Aarms fe-, in which l'is mounted a crossbar towhichthe plow's --aV orlother load may be attached by clevises -7-,Asaid cross bar being-.provided with, "a series `of vbolt -openings -S-farranged at intervals throughout its length to permit the clevises orother loacl-,attachingvr means to be adjusted along saidbar to diercntvpositions so as to'fcentralize as closely as= possibleithe draft of theload relatively to the draft' section-2 which may betermed a'draw barThese sections -1- and 2.- are mounted one upon theother for relativemovement parallel withvtheline' ofdraft, the'section -f beingprovidedwith a lengthwise guide opening I-9 extendinglfrom end to end of themain body thereof', and-prefer'- ably of longitudinal cross section, forreceiving and guiding the draft' bar 12ewhichi'sof substantially thesame ,cross sectional form'and size as the guide Iopening e9-and whenadjusted for fuse"` extends practically. the entire ,length of said'lguide openingPv and some distance forwardly beyond the front end of thesection -,l--.

The sectiony -yj-l- `is of considerably greater width than the section-2 to properly support the locking member ;3 andl keeper iand permitsaid locking member and 4keeper to be properly conL structed andadjusted With'relationto each other and tothe draw bar -2-, the guideopening-Q being located nearer. to one edge of the section -1- than toits opposite edge so as to bring thepoints' of connection `between the'draw barrand" locking member as closelyas possibleto the fulcrum of thellocking member in `order that the Vresistance tothe strains tending'tosepaf rate Ithe draft sections may be increased to the desired degree'.

The; draft sections 1f and '2- Vare provided with longitudinallyelongated transverse slots -10- registering-*witheach otherland With theguide ,opening---Q- to reeeive'and'fpermit the `desired playbf lthelooking member '-3 which consists of a lever pivoted or fulcrumed at 11tothe section 1 at one side of the guide opening 9 near the rear end ofthe slot 10 the front end of the same side of the section 1 beingprovided with a lim iting stop 12 adapted to be engaged by the free endof the locking lever 3 to limit its lateral swinging movement to itsreleased position.

The pivot or fulcrum 11 and stop shoulder are, therefore, located at oneand the same side of the lengthwise guide opening Q a suflicientdistance to allow the locking lever to swing out of the pathof movementof the draft section Q when in its released position, said lever beingprovided with a suitable handle 13 by which it may be returned to itslocking position.

The' locking lever 3 is of sufficient length to extend entirely acrossthe section 1 and slightly beyond the edge thereof opposite that towhich the locking lever is pivoted for interlocking engagement with thekeeper 1- it being understood that when the locking lever 3 is yin itslocking position, it extends through the slot as 10 in the draw bar Qand is engaged with the rear end of said draw bar to hold the latter inoperative relation to the draw head 1 The keeper -4- preferably consistsof an upright lever having its lower end pivoted or fulcrunied at i4- totheside of the draw head 1 opposite that to which the locking lever 3 isfulcruined so as to swing on an axis at right angles to that of saidlocking lever and is also provided with a pendent shoulder or catch 15for interlocking engagement with the free end of the locking lever 3-said catch or shoulder being located in a plane below and at the frontof the fulcruin or pivot 14kto oppose with a predetermined resistancethe tendency of the draft sections to separate;

' Thisy keeper is, therefore, movable in the direction of the line ofdraft and is yield ingly held in operative position in lockingengagement with the free end of the locking lever 3 by coil spring 16having one end attached to the keeper some distance above its fulcrumand its other end extended forwardly and attached to a suitableanchorage on the draw head 1 thus adding additional resistance to therelease of the keeper and locking lever in holding the draft sections inoperative relation underdraft strains tending to separate said sections.v

A The degree of this resistance may be varied at will by attaching thespring 1G to points of the keeper lever 4 at different distances fromits fulcrum, and for this purpose, I have provided saidleeper withLacan/'se body Q and a shoulder 22 on .the

rear end of the bolt 19 to serve as a shock absorber for preventingsudden strains upon the coupling sections or load attached thereto.

1t is now evident that by establishing the point of connection betweenthe draw bar Q and locking lever 3 a relatively short distance from thefulcrum of said lever and by engaging the keeper l with the free endV ofsaid lever at a considerably greater distance from the fulcrum and nearthe fulcrum of the keeper a comparatively slight resistance, as by thespring 16 applied to the keeper lever some distance from the fulcrumopposite the point of engagement of the keeper with the locking lever,would hold the coupling sections in operative relation against aconsiderably'greater'force tending to separate said sections.

In other words, a few poundsl resistance applied to the upper end of thekeeper 4- would hold the draft sections in operative connection againsta force of several thousand pounds, tending to separate them, thisresistance being increased as the spring 16 is adjusted toward the upperend of the keeper and is reduced by a reverse adjustment so that theoperator may gage the resistance by adjustmentrof the spring to conformto the requirements of safety in the operation of different deviceswhich may be drawn by the coupling.

For example, in operating gang plows, the spring would be adjustedfarther up on the keeper 4 than would be necessary in the operation ofharrow's or other more delicate implements, but in each case the springwould be adjusted to a predetermined degree according to the strength ofthe implement operated, making the adjustment so as to prevent breakageof such implement in case it should suddenly encounter any obstaclewhich might interfere with its free movement by the draft device.

What I claim is: y

Ina draft appliance of the character described, the combination of adraw-head having a transverse slot anda lengthwise guide-way, a draw-barslidable endwise in said guide-way v and thereby held against relativelateral movement, said draw-bar having a lengthwise slot registeringwith the transverse slot in the draw-head and provided with a draftshoulder at the rear end of its slot2 a looking lever pivoted to thedraw-head at one side of the draweloar and extending through both of theslots for engagement by said shoulder, said slots being of greaterlength than the locking lever to allow the latter to swing from acrosswise locking position to a lengthwise re 10 leasing position, andmeans for holding the lever in its locking position when the load isbelow a certain degree and for releasing, the lever when the loadexceeds said degree. In witness whereof I have hereunto set my hand this19th day of August, 1915.

WILLIAM ATKINS.

Witnesses:

H. E. CHASE, ALICE M. CANNON.

Copies of this patent may 'be obtained for five cents each, byaddressing the Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. G.

